According to police, a guy was detained on Sunday for reportedly putting online advertising using the names of well-known liquor outlets in Gurgaon, which is next to Delhi, and defrauding more than 200 individuals under the pretence of delivering booze to their houses.
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Azharuddin Khan, the accused, is 23 years old and based his activities out of Bharatpur, Rajasthan. They said that he promoted his scam company through Google Ads.
A Delhi citizen filed a complaint with police after seeing a phone number for alcohol delivery to his house while viewing a YouTube channel, according to the police. A Quick Response (QR) code, barcode, and account number were all sent to the provided cell phone number before he was prompted for an OTP.
After disclosing the OTP, his bank account was drained of a total of 78,374. The accused allegedly stopped answering calls after a certain time had passed.
According to a senior police official, the inquiry led them to a hamlet near Jhenjhpuri in Bharatpur district in Rajasthan, where they believe the fraudster is based.
“As part of the investigation, a police team was sent to Bharatpur from where accused Azharuddin Khan was arrested and three mobile phones and one basic keypad phone used for calling purpose and used in the crime was recovered from him,” he said.
Devesh Kumar Mahla, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North), said that he placed adverts on Google Ads in the names of well-known liquor stores in Gurgaon. He has been operating this scam for a whole year, during which time he has tricked many individuals all around the National Capital Area (NCR).
“The Google ad posted by him also reflected on YouTube channels. The fraudster used to flash advertisements for home delivery of liquor service in the name of three popular liquor shops based in Gurgaon along with mobile phone numbers and other details. Once, the victim dialled on the alleged numbers, the gang got transferred almost all the amount available in the account, through a QR code, and barcode by asking OTP on the pretext of delivering liquor online. Once they duped the victim, they blocked their numbers and usurped the defrauded amount,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
